Why DUSU wants to ban an "anti Hindu" street play. Why it will be a shame if it does

Street theatre. It comes banging and pounding at our doorsteps, stomping at the centre of crowded promenades, kicking up dust in the heart of dilapidated villages to sing and dance the truth until you can't look away. Street theatre was never meant to be ignored, it was never meant to be consumed with a tub of popcorn, and it was never meant to leave you unmoved. The impact it provokes is everything, and that's why it frightens those who hold rubber stamps. It’s also why at the hub of Delhi’s theatre district there is a road named Safdar Hashmi Marg, for the man who lost his life to goons who couldn’t bear to hear him anymore.

Earlier this month, I judged a street theatre competition where I witnessed the astounding work, Welcome to the Machine by Ankur-The Dramatics Society, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College. It is everything that street theatre aspires to be, but most of all, it provokes and impacts. The street play, Welcome to the Machine, dares to name the RSS and its deeds and holds it to account, mentioning specific incidents from its history, and it does so with passionate theatrical bravura and majesty. You can literally feel the soul of the team pulsating from start to finish, employing a boisterous chorus, freezing the actors at critical junctures and even using a hilarious Santa Banta routine to hit home its key points. The play climaxes with actors entering a "machine" and emerging as the khaki-shorted disciples of the RSS robotically and uniformly, now devoid of individual personalities ready to serve the cause.

And for that, Delhi University Student's Union wants it banned, lest it causes "offence" to the majority, Hindus. But that's not the entire truth. The truth isn't that a play by college students is so offensive that it should be banned. The truth is that the play tells the truth, from a perspective, and it does it so well that powerful people cannot hide from their own reflection in it. Evil sees itself and wants the image taken away so it doesn't have to face itself, not when it can continue telling you the story it wants you to believe.

When the play was over someone said to me, "Weren't you offended by it? As a Hindu, I found it very offensive." I had no idea what she was talking about. Would she have been less offended if she wasn’t Hindu? Afterwards, I met with people who were more "knowledgeable" about these sorts of things, and they told me, "The team should not have mentioned RSS by name. They have to be more careful", even going so far as to say, "Inki to achchi class lagani chahiye," (they must be taught a lesson). All I noticed, however, was that it was the only play that had moved people into thinking and reacting, rather than sitting and preaching along. If the students had removed the name of the specific group they were talking about, the play would no longer have relevance.

These people actually saw something real. I spoke with The Dramatics Society's team after the competition and asked them if they were sure this is what they wanted to achieve. Would they be willing to face the consequences? I listened as long as I could. I saw the passion in their eyes and the fire in their bellies. The play was never meant to be a balanced presentation of all sides. It was always meant to be their perspective, their voice. One they believe in. That was the only way it was having that impact, because the people involved believed every word they were saying. 

Safdar Hashmi didn’t lose his life trying to present an objective discourse on the state of the country. He died because what he had to say scared many. These young men and women in front of me carried that same fire. I could not stand in their way.

After listening to them, I promised I would be there for them. Now the time's come and goons want to ban the play. Now I stand with Ankur - The Dramatics Society, SGTB Khalsa College. Will you?

Stand with those who challenge the perception, for their right to do it (whether you agree with their truth or not) because what we fight for is our right to speak. Stand together.